The common denominator

Dirty Victorians! Every Australian will know what that means. For those outside Australia, let me explain. When the pandemic first hit, the whole country went into lockdown. No visitors, no school, no leaving home except for essential reasons like buying food. Maintain social distancing at all times. All overseas visitors were put into hotel quarantine for 14 days to make sure they were virus free, and it worked! Gradually the number of new virus cases decreased; as the authorities put it, we were flattening the curve.

Finally the day came when restrictions could start to ease. First five visitors, then ten, resume recreational activities carefully… all going to plan. Then suddenly out of nowhere the state of Victoria starts getting increasing numbers of new virus cases. Up and up it explodes to higher numbers than ever before! Every other state is doing ok except Victoria and every other state have shut their border to the people there. Back to lockdown, surely Victoria is the pariah of Australia. It’s very unpleasant, especially when you have family and friends in other parts of the country you can’t visit.

So what went wrong? Well it seems some people involved in the hotel quarantine regime didn’t follow the protocols of cleanliness and social contact. Unbeknownst to them, they took home the virus to their families and local communities. As restrictions eased, they came into contact with more and more people spreading the disease. It takes a couple of weeks for the virus to incubate and then hey presto! You have another major outbreak.

We really shouldn’t be surprised that the system broke down somewhere should we? Let’s look at the major problems in our world: war, terrorism, racism, domestic violence, child abuse, environmental damage and corruption to name a few. There’s a common denominator here isn’t there? It’s us! All these problems come back to the human race. There are millions of people starving in the world, but that number could be so much smaller, maybe even non-existent; the problem is there’s so much greed and corruption in the world that the little aid that is provided, doesn’t even necessarily reach the people who need it most.

We’ve got a common problem and this virus should be evidence enough that we don’t have the answers. But God does!

“Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill on my holy mountain. The whole earth will be brimming with knowing God-Alive, a living knowledge of God ocean-deep, ocean-wide.” (Isaiah 11:9, MSG)

This great time is coming and you can find out more by reading your bible.